Thread: Ft. Bragg officials detain 28 at illegal immigration checkpo

http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-773139.html

Ft. Bragg officials detain 28 at illegal immigration checkpoint

The Associated Press
September 26, 2006 11:14 am

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Federal agents detained 28 construction and landscaping employees Tuesday during a check for false identification at Fort Bragg, the post said.

"They found they had false or fraudulently obtained identification cards," said Tom McCollum, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps. "None were U.S. citizens."

The ID check was carried out between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. at the post gate on All American Expressway, a four-lane highway into Fort Bragg.

Fort Bragg guards and officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement checked all vehicles that didn't display a Department of Defense identification decal.

More than 224 people have been detained trying to enter Fort Bragg, a large Army base south of Raleigh, under false pretenses during the past year, McCollum said.

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-773139.html

Federal agents detained 28 construction and landscaping employees Tuesday during a check for false identification at Fort Bragg, the post said.

"They found they had false or fraudulently obtained identification cards," said Tom McCollum, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps. "None were U.S. citizens."

Okay, we keep hearing about the illegals that are arrested, but nothing on the employers. There is something very wrong with this picture! The illegal immigrants will continue to flow until we start throwing the ones that hire them into jail!

http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=243012

Published on Wednesday, September 27, 2006


28 held in Bragg ID sweep


By Justin Willett
Staff writer

Fort Bragg officials on Tuesday detained 28 people, mostly construction workers, as they tried to enter the post with false or fraudulently obtained identification.

The work site enforcement operation — the second this year — was conducted at the All American Freeway entrance from 6 to 8 a.m.

Tom McCollum, a Fort Bragg spokesman, said vehicles without Defense Department decals were targeted.

McCollum said the 28 were taken to an immigration detention center in Cary and could face charges of presenting a false or fraudulently obtained federal or state identification and criminal trespassing.

Twenty-four of the people detained are from Mexico, two are from Guatemala, one is from El Salvador and one is from Honduras, according to Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Two of the workers detained worked for Cardinal Landscaping, which is owned by Fayetteville City Councilman Wesley Meredith.

“I believed them to be legal,” Meredith said. “I have never had anyone picked up before.”

Meredith said that after the July 18 sweep for illegal aliens at Fort Bragg, he updated his immigration forms. He said the two employees detained Tuesday had drivers’ licenses and Social Security cards.

After undergoing initial scanner checks Tuesday, people who had identification deemed suspicious by immigration agents were sent to another checkpoint, where they underwent a more thorough ID check, McCollum said.

All visitors to the post have their drivers’ licenses or Defense Department identification cards read by scanners at the post’s 17 entrances.

The information is compared to several databases, including the National Crime Information Center database, the terrorism watch list and lists of people who are barred from the post.

The more thorough checks done Tuesday used immigration databases, McCollum said.

Scanner technology — which was introduced to Fort Bragg in fall 2004 — has made it easier to crack down on illegal immigrants and other people who aren’t supposed to be on post.

In July, 58 people were detained at Fort Bragg’s Knox Street and Randolph Street entrances. All but 10 of the 58 were charged with illegal entry into the United States.

Six people received federal jail sentences in August for charges such as knowingly eluding inspection by immigrations officials and unlawfully possessing false identification.

The other 42 each pleaded guilty to a single charge related to their illegal status.

McCollum said that during the past year, Fort Bragg has detained 224 people trying to enter the post under false pretenses. Since July, the post has detained 14 people.

Raimondi said confronting workers and employers is key.

“Going after folks criminally, not just the illegal aliens, but also those who hire them, is a very effective deterrent,” he said.

A statement released by Fort Bragg said, “If it is shown that employers knowingly hired these people, the employer can be cited with aiding and abetting and/or conspiracy charges.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh said no employers were charged in relation to the July sweep.

Tuesday’s operation included officials from Fort Bragg’s Directorate of Security and Emergency Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Marshals, the Defense Criminal Investigation Service, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh.

Staff writer Justin Willett can be reached at willettj@fayettevillenc.com or 323-4848, ext. 370.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?secti ... id=4607253

Illegal Immigrants Appear in Court

09/28/06 - RALEIGH) - More than two dozen illegal immigrants detained Tuesday at Fort Bragg appeared in federal court today in Raleigh.

Fort Bragg officials detained the 28 people, who were mostly construction workers, during a work site enforcement operation at the entrance to the post.
They face charges of having fake identification cards and illegally entering the country. If found guilty, they could be deported.

Ten defendants appeared before the judge. All pleaded guilty to entering the country illegally. The judge sentenced them to one to six months behind bars. They likely will be departed once they have completed their sentences.

The other 18 will go before a judge in October.